CHAPTER TEN
Even if inviting us here was meant to be a friendly gesture, I’m not willing to risk getting shitfaced on a rival club’s turf, so I chose seltzer tonight. Murphy would never risk drinking and riding, so he’s been nursing a Coke.
Bless my sister, but she seems to be taking her role here seriously. She hasn’t opened her mouth once unless asked something directly.
Merlin stumbled out of his office and flopped into the chair across from us a few minutes ago. While I’m trying to pay attention to his plans for “restructuring” their Slater County turf, I’m also doing my best to ignore Murphy’s hand up the back of my sister’s shirt. He’s just brushing his thumb over her skin. It’s a casual gesture. Like he has the right to touch her so intimately. Like he does it all the time.
Which is why it’s so fucking annoying.
She must sense the impending explosion of my head. Heidi circles her fingers around his wrist and pries his hand off her before turning to me. She doesn’t ask if I’m okay, she knows better in this setting, but her eyes are full of concern. She gave me shit when I explained there was no fucking way I’d bring my cane into this clubhouse tonight.
Jesus, I love her. And I hate that we brought her here. I never wanted her to be part of this stuff.
Just because I chose this life doesn’t mean I wanted it for her.
I’m still rattled from the stuff she admitted to me yesterday. The stuff she screamed at me. I always knew something wasn’t right between her and Axel, but in the back of my head, part of me was also relieved he’d get her away from club life.
Now that I know how bad things were, fuck that he tried to talk her into an abortion, not once but multiple times?
Pissed isn’t adequate.
Even though less than twenty-four hours ago she was spitting mad and screaming at me—rightfully so—she gives me a soft smile. “Do you need a refill?” she asks, nodding at my glass.
She stands and braces herself on Murphy’s legs, leaning in to kiss him before taking our glasses.
“How bad did he kick your ass for hooking up with his sister?” Merlin asks, laughing like a moron at his own question.
A slow smile spreads over Murphy’s face. “Worth it.”
Merlin opens his mouth, and I sit forward, nailing him with a warning glare. “She’s young to already have patched her, no?” Merlin asks instead of whatever dirty question he was considering.
Murphy shrugs. Neither of us are going to say she’s been around the club her whole life. No need to give either of them the idea that she’s here as anything other than Murphy’s pretty little lap decoration tonight.
When she returns, she hands Murphy his glass first, then hands me my seltzer.
“Come here, sweetheart,” Merlin says. She glances at Murphy and gets a nod before taking a step closer to the Wolf Knights’ prez.
He reaches out, running his fingers over the patches on the side of her vest.
The back of the vest announces she’s “Property of Murphy” and the name of our MC. The side holds the smaller patch of each Lost Kings MC officer in our chapter.
Technically he’s not touching Heidi. His fingers barely graze the patches. Doesn’t matter. Next to me, Murphy coils tight. I set my seltzer down and sit up in case things get ugly.
Merlin’s fingers stop on the black and blue nautical star patch that indicates Wrath voted Heidi in as an ol’ lady. “You guys take a vote on the old ladies, right? Not do it some other way?”
Since we’re talking about my sister, the suggestion that she earned her patches by providing the club with sexual favors pisses me the fuck off.
“We vote,” Murphy says, reaching out, and pulling Heidi into his lap. He wraps his arms around her, fully staking his claim.
Merlin seems to ignore the death glare coming from Murphy. “Wrath must be a tough one to convince.”
I snort because if Wrath was going to block an old lady, it would have been Hope. Even though he busted Rock’s balls over her, she got his yes on the first try. Wrath might have thought my sister was a brat when she was younger, but he also knows how much she loves the club. He never would’ve voted Heidi down.
That’s how little the Wolf Knights know about how we operate.
“Where is that big, scary bastard anyway?” Merlin asks.
“He’s around here somewhere.”
Murphy whispers something in Heidi’s ear and gives her a nudge. She pats my shoulder on her way past me.
By the bar, I notice Trinity walk up and put her arm around my sister. Together, they chat up a few Wolf Knight ol’ ladies.
Someone’s hand lands on my shoulder and I don’t need to look up to know it’s Wrath. He drops down into the chair next to me and raises an eyebrow. I give him a subtle nod and he turns his attention to Merlin.
“You and Whisper make up?” Merlin asks, like the bumbling moron he’s known to be.
“We’re cool,” Wrath says in a tone that conveys nothing. He could be cool with Whisper or Whisper’s mangled body could be in a dumpster out back. Hard to tell with Wrath.
This entire night is giving me a headache. Why am I even here?
Because Rock asked me to do it for the club.
Now, to find a halfway smart bunny in this dump. Preferably one who spends most of her time tending to the guys in this clubhouse on a regular basis.
Christ, the thought already has my skin crawling.